Hello! Can Anyone Help With Strange Problem?

[Juney]

Hi, I am a newbie, and looking for an answer to what is happening with our water taps/pipes.

The single hole kitchen taps (1/4 turn I think they are called) are fairly new. Recently when you turn a tap on in the bathroom the pipes hum and vibrate, and the tap in the kitchen, although turned off, dribbles water. The same happens when the outside tap is switched on, the kitchen tap dribbles. It doesn't leak otherwise. We once turned off the water at the mains, and drained the taps - this stopped the humming for a while, but it has started again now. Any ideas? :confused5:

 

[Masood]

Hi, I am a newbie, and looking for an answer to what is happening with our water taps/pipes.

The single hole kitchen taps (1/4 turn I think they are called) are fairly new. Recently when you turn a tap on in the bathroom the pipes hum and vibrate, and the tap in the kitchen, although turned off, dribbles water. The same happens when the outside tap is switched on, the kitchen tap dribbles. It doesn't leak otherwise. We once turned off the water at the mains, and drained the taps - this stopped the humming for a while, but it has started again now. Any ideas? :confused5:

Ceramic discs in your kitchen tap are worn, so the vibration caused by water flowing through other taps is making them chatter. New cartridge or new tap, depending on whether spares are available for your tap..

 

[tamz]

Your water pressure is on the low side. Ceramic disc taps are sealed by the pressure pushing the discs together. A drop in pressure (when you open a tap) causes them to relax and pass a tiny amount of water which makes the noise or starts the drip.
If the taps are old new inserts or cartridges will fix it. If they are new bin them and buy better quality taps or ones with a washer.
When 1/4 turn taps came out about 30 years ago they said you'll never need to change a tap washer again.
They were right as 90%+ of them get binned when they start dripping as very few can be bothered to try to source spares.

 

[Juney]

Thanks Masood. The taps were cheap, and now we know why! Will look at some new ones :smile5:

 

[Juney]

Your water pressure is on the low side. Ceramic disc taps are sealed by the pressure pushing the discs together. A drop in pressure (when you open a tap) causes them to relax and pass a tiny amount of water which makes the noise or starts the drip.
If the taps are old new inserts or cartridges will fix it. If they are new bin them and buy better quality taps or ones with a washer.
When 1/4 turn taps came out about 30 years ago they said you'll never need to change a tap washer again.
They were right as 90%+ of them get binned when they start dripping as very few can be bothered to try to source spares.

You are right, our water pressure is low. Hubby says it is fully on, but the pressure has always been low, and even worse when the farmer has his irrigation on in the summer! New taps it is I think!

 

[Best]

Often it is due to the discs inside the cartridge not being tight enough because the washer seal at base of the cartridge has lost its volume. I have fixed a few by replacing that seal. (Also some, but not all ceramic glands have an O ring built in to a metal washer which is sometimes between the disc & final seal washer. This O ring replaced can also fix them.)

Bring back the old type 10/10 tap spindles with packing nut on top & an ordinary tap washer, I say.